Doolittle appreciates reaching 100 saves in his career

For a guy who started out in baseball as an infielder/outfielder, a pitcher in high school, and a player who early on had to battle through two knee surgeries, getting to 100 saves in Major League Baseball seems even more remarkable.

Left-hander Sean Doolittle transitioned back to pitching only in 2011 and made his major league debut in 2012.

From that point on, Doolittle accumulated 100 saves with the Oakland A's and the Washington Nationals.

No. 100 came June 30, 2019 at Detroit as the left-hander threw one shutout inning in the ninth of the Nationals' 2-1 win over the Tigers.

"It's really cool. It's not a milestone that's necessarily going to put me on the top of any leaderboard or anything, but it still means a lot to me," Doolittle said. "I'm very proud of it, given my career path and pitching in a number of different roles in the bullpen throughout my career in the big leagues. It's really cool. I'm really excited about it."

Doolittle, 32, thought he might have a shot at his 100th save when the club was in Miami last week. He got No. 99 on June 26 against the Marlins. He was back on the mound there on June 27, but because the Nats offense was so good, the save did not register.

"Yes. I thought I was going to get a chance to go for it in Miami with a nice three-run cushion, and (Adam) Eaton got a two-out RBI and spoiled it," Doolittle said. "The last maybe couple weeks it was something that was in the back of my head, as if the closer role isn't difficult enough as it is.

"I'm really happy to get it over and done with," the lefty continued. "Going into an off-day I can enjoy it a little bit more. Normally, I try not to sit with it, good or bad. I try to turn it over and come to the field the next day with a clean slate. This maybe gives me a little bit more of a chance to enjoy it and look back on them."

There were a couple of celebrations Sunday for the Nats when Max Scherzer and Anthony Rendon found out they had made it to the All-Star Game representing the National League. But Scherzer had a special surprise for Doolittle, which included a shaving cream bath.

"It was really cool because I hadn't really told anybody, so I didn't know if anybody really knew," two-time All-Star Doolittle recounted. "I came back in, and this is one of the things that makes Max such a good teammate, is he told everybody. He was also the one that told everybody when (Tony) Sipp got 10 years.

"For all that Max has accomplished in his career he still gets really, really excited for his teammates when they have a big moment or when they come through for us," Doolittle said. "That was really cool. I really didn't think it was on his radar, or anybody else's, really, because I hadn't really talked about it. It was fun, we had a little dance party. It was good."

Nationals manager Davey Martinez, a veteran of 17 seasons playing in the big leagues, appreciates this milestone as much as Scherzer and Doolittle did.

"He's a stopper. Congratulations to him and his family," Martinez said. "Regardless of what people think, 100 saves, it's a lot. Proud of him and, hopefully, he gets 100 more here."

Doolittle's 18 saves this season put him in ninth place in the majors. Kirby Yates of the Padres leads the way with 27. Doolittle has earned 20 or more saves four times in his career, the most last season with 25 for the Nats. He had 24 in 2017 between Oakland and D.C. He needs only two more this season to reach 20 saves for the fifth season of his career.